The World Bank has predicted that money transferred by friends and families in developed nations to recipients in developing countries will drop by 24 billion U.S dollars this year.

The bank stated this in a statement issued in Abuja on Thursday, adding that the remittance flow to developing countries is expected to be 304 billion dollars this year, down from an estimated 328 billion dollars in 2008.

The bank said money transferred by friends and families in developed countries provides a major means of survival for many who depend on the relations abroad.

It released a new migration and remittances brief to coincide with the International Diaspora and Development Conference held on July 13-14.

According to the statement, the new forecasts showed a 6.9 percent decline in remittances for the Latin America and Caribbean region. "Sub-Saharan Africa is also likely to experience an 8.3 percent slowdown in its remittance flows," it said.

Hans Timmer, director of the World Bank's Development Prospects Group, attributed the likely drop in remittances to tighter migration and rising unemployment, the fallout of the global economic and financial crisis.

He added that sources of risk to remittance such as the uncertainty on the global economy, fluctuations in exchange rates and the likely restricted immigration into major destination countries, continued to thrive.

The statement said the fall in remittances has had adverse effects on the economy of recipient countries.

According to the statement, a slowdown in the U.S.construction sector is responsible for the fall of remittance flow to Latin America.

(Xinhua News Agency July 24, 2009)